What is Trauma?

I’ve heard so many clients say, “But I couldn’t have symptoms of trauma! I’ve never been to war… I’ve never been raped.” While these better-known examples are certainly ways that a person might come to suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, trauma can come in many different forms.

Let’s begin by defining trauma. What do trauma therapists mean when they ask if you have experienced trauma? Trauma is defined as an event in your life in which you experienced fear that you or another person could die or be seriously injured. While many assume that to have trauma symptoms, they would have to be the one to directly experience a traumatic event, this is not true. Witnessing a traumatic event happening to others or even just learning the details of something traumatic that happened to a close family member or friend can result in trauma-related symptoms, or post-traumatic stress.

So, what are some examples of trauma? In the case of acute trauma, a person has been exposed to one overwhelming traumatic event, such as a car accident, natural disaster, life-threatening illness or surgery, or a single robbery or assault. However, if this one incident is paired with any other history of trauma, it becomes complex. With complex trauma, more than one traumatic event occurs over time. Complex trauma can often be chronic (it just keeps happening) and interpersonal (it happens with people you know and should have been able to trust). Some examples of types of trauma that often fall into the complex category include domestic or family violence, ongoing community violence, childhood abuse or neglect (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, emotional abuse), or multiple sexual or physical assaults.

But trauma related disorders exist in association with stressor related disorders for a reason. There are many profoundly stressful and painful events in our lives that may not fit within the textbook definition of trauma but that can still be mentally emotionally overwhelming. While these events may not cause full PTSD, they can cause severe stress to our nervous systems and may well cause a partial constellation of trauma related symptoms (or, what is more formally referred to as an “Other Trauma or Stressor Related Disorder”). Plus, when these stressors are paired with past traumatic events, they can sometimes act as a trigger for full PTSD. Some of these stressful life events can include divorce, loss of someone significant, loss of a job, or a big move to a new community, to name a few.

The great thing about EMDR therapy is that it can be used by EMDR therapists to treat symptoms associated with both trauma and other deeply stressful life events that cause overwhelming emotions, memories, and confusing thoughts about oneself and the world.

Visit my blog again next week to learn more about symptoms of trauma and what they might look like in you or in your child or teen.